


But My Corset!

by Baozhale



Series: Tamora Pierce BINGO 2013 [3]
Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, The Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-15
Updated: 2013-09-15
Packaged: 2017-12-26 15:32:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/967624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baozhale/pseuds/Baozhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remember how the Ysandir made Alana's clothes go away? And how she'd already started needing to bind her chest by then? How's she going to get back to Persepolis without someone noticing that she's a GIRL?</p>
            </blockquote>





	But My Corset!

**Author's Note:**

> Travel prompt for BINGO. Because, you know, Alana+squires were travelling when this happened.

Alana woke up to Job shaking her shoulder. She looked up- why was she outside with no tent?- and then down-small as her breasts were, their shape was clearly visible. She cursed. “I can ex-” Then she remembered the events of the prior day. She cursed again, for different reasons.

Jon looked at her. “We should get ready to go back. It's almost dawn.”

Indeed, she could see the edges of the sky starting to brighten.

But. Her chest. She gestured at it. “We need to do something about that. My coming back as a girl isn't going to look good. And we need an excuse for why my clothes are gone and I'm wearing your shirt.”

“Well, what did you do before? You don't show in your page uniform.”

“I had special corsets made in the Lower City. George's mom helped me get them.” She shook her head. “The problem is that the other one is in my room in the city. Which means I can't _get_ it while I look like a girl.”

“That must have taken time to get, though. What did you do before then?”

Alana fought to think. One morning she had woken up, and she had bounced, and so had her chest. She panicked and shouted for Coram. She had him get. . .“Bandages! Lots of bandages. You would not _believe_ how many bandages I used the first morning when I noticed I had. . . these.” She gestured at her breasts. “And we don't have band- wait. Don't the Bazhir use those leaves as bandages when there's nothing else?”

Jon looked. “I think they do. It's worthy trying.”

The sun was fully up by the time they had a makeshift binding together. It was _horribly_ uncomfortable- it was scratchy, and it _pinched_. It would probably hold on to all her sweat on the way to Persepolis, too. But it kept her chest flat and didn't show through Jon's shirt. It would have to do.

They were alone for most of the ride back to Persepolis. They took full advantage: In Persepolis, there would be little private time, and they had plans to discuss. As squire to the Heir, Alana would be in the public eye, even more so than her fellow squires were in public view. Jon would be expected to entertain people as a knight and as the Heir, and she would be expected to wait on both him and his guests at any moment. They would need to make sure he never barged in on her bathing or changing while there were people with him- that would reveal her secret, ending her career and causing scandal.

They settled on a code. If there were people with him, he would knock, ask “Are you decent, Squire?” and wait for _her_ to open the door. He'd find a way to make it seem like he was not necessarily waiting for her, since it was expected that a knight _could_ just barge in on his squire, but he would wait. To do otherwise was too risky.

“You know you're going to need to dance with the ladies at parties, right?”

Alana stuck her tongue out at him. “You know that it will be really easy to stick a frog in your bed when our rooms are connected, right?”

Jon did his best to look regal. “Would you really do such a thing to the Heir to the throne of Tortall?”

With his shirt missing, the attempt to look regal failed _miserably_. She had to laugh. “Yes.”


End file.
